Why sharks matter to everyone

Letter from Louis Ng Executive Director Animal Concerns Research and Education Society
Today Online 20 Aug 10;

I REFER to the letter "Sharks' real nemesis: Longlines" (Aug 16) by Mr Tan Keng Tat.

I was surprised by the remark that "sharks are not an endangered species", as sharks are undoubtedly disappearing from the oceans.

Last year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Shark Specialist Group announced that a study to determine the global conservation status of 64 species of open ocean sharks and rays had revealed that 32 per cent were threatened with extinction, primarily due to overfishing. Furthermore, 24 per cent of the species examined were categorised as Near Threatened, while information was insufficient to assess another 25 per cent.

The report documented serious overfishing of several shark species, in national and international waters, and demonstrated a clear need for immediate action to conserve sharks on a global scale.

Furthermore, several species of shark are listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Appendices, including the white shark, whale shark, great white shark and the basking shark. This is clear acknowledgment, by governments, that these species are threatened.

Shark fishing continues virtually unchecked in most of the world's oceans and territorial seas, even though many species are threatened with extinction. Many more species are data deficient, meaning that we have no real idea how many are left.

Shark populations are extremely vulnerable to hunting pressures. Their slow growth, late maturity and small number of offspring make them especially susceptible to overexploitation, and shark populations are slow to recover once depleted.

Furthermore, because most sharks are top ocean predators, over-fishing of sharks is likely to cause disruption to prey populations and an overall imbalance in marine ecosystems. The disappearance of sharks from the oceans is therefore a very real, and very pressing, concern - for all of us.

While, as Mr Tan mentions, the shark fin trade is not the only threat to wild shark populations, it is undoubtedly a significant one. The trade in shark fin has been identified as a primary contributing factor in the global decline of many shark species. According to a paper published in a 2006 edition of the journal Ecology Letters, as many as many as 73 million sharks are estimated to be killed each year worldwide for the shark fin trade.

There have been numerous studies providing strong evidence that fish, including sharks, do feel pain. Therefore, the live finning of sharks is a very serious welfare concern. Although live finning has been banned by many countries, there is undoubtedly a real danger that it still occurs, as the fins remain the most valuable parts of the shark.

It is therefore conceivable that fishermen will be tempted to keep as much room on the fishing boats as possible for storing the fins (rather than the carcasses) and to "process'' the caught sharks as quickly as possible to get the fins, possibly removing the fins when the sharks are still alive and throwing the finless sharks back into the sea to drown. Video evidence has indeed revealed this barbaric practise taking place.

The only way to guarantee that sharks are not finned alive is to ensure that all shark carcasses arrive at the port with fins attached. However, very few countries have laws to ensure that this happens.

There are numerous reasons more and more people are saying no to shark fin. The only way to guarantee that you are not eating the fin from a shark which has been cruelly finned alive, or indeed is the last surviving shark of that particular species in the wild, is to shun that bowl of shark fin soup.